Power equipment, including generators and welders, have an onboard control panel assembly to which electrical power conducting cords, cables, and the like are removably plugged. Generators, for example, typically have a control panel assembly that includes at least one resettable circuit breaker and at least one power outlet into which the power cord of a 120 volt appliance drawing at least 10 amps or a 220-240 volt appliance drawing at least 5 amps can be plugged. As a result, such high amperage—high voltage control panel assemblies must be constructed to deliver as much as 30 amps of electrical current to a single power receptacle, typically a 120-125 volt duplex receptacle, at a voltage of at least 110 volts. Many generators are equipped with relatively sophisticated control panel assemblies that include two or more 120-125 volt power outlets, at least one “twist-lock” power outlet of 120/240 and/or 125 volt construction, and at least one resettable circuit breaker. Some generators have even more sophisticated control panel assemblies that further include an hour meter, a resettable circuit breaker for each power outlet, and an electronic display, such as for displaying an operating condition, e.g., voltage, amperage, engine speed, fuel level, etc. of the generator.
As a result of the relatively large electrical currents and high voltages distributed by such high amperage—high voltage control panel assemblies, the power outlets are electrically connected using insulated wires capable of handling (a) at least 10 amps and as much as 30 amps of current at a voltage of 120 volts, and (b) at least 5 amps and as much as 15 amps of current at a voltage of between 220 and 240 volts. Wires are used in such a high amperage—high voltage control panel assembly not only to electrically connected the electrical power receptacles, but quite often to electrically connect all of the electrical components of the control panel assembly, including the electrical input connector used to connect the control panel assembly to the piece of equipment on which it is used as a control panel.
The wires must be manually attached to each electrical component of such a control panel assembly, which is time consuming and costly. The wires also take up a great deal of space requiring a relatively large control panel assembly enclosure to house the wires that is undesirably large and bulky. Just as bad, if not worse, is that the resultant maze of wires inside such a control panel assembly makes troubleshooting and fixing control panel problems a time consuming and challenging ordeal.
Using wires to electrically connect the electrical components during assembly of such high amperage—high voltage control panel assemblies requires the person manually attaching the wires to accurately and properly attach each wire. If even one wire is improperly connected or connected to the wrong electrical component, the control panel assembly will not work and can even damage the equipment to which the control panel assembly is attached. Even worse is when an incorrectly connected wire causes an electrical short as it can lead to an electrical fire in the control panel assembly.
The wires used to connect the electrical components are either soldered or manually attached using terminals at one or both ends of each connecting wire. Both types of electrical connections are not without considerable drawbacks however.
Where soldered electrical connections are used, the resultant electrical connection may be of poor quality that can cause control panel malfunction, arc during operation, and can even electrically short out. Quite often, soldered connections degrade over time as oxidization occurs and as a result of being subjected to vibration during shipping and operation of the equipment to which the control panel assembly is attached. It is therefore not unusual for a control panel assembly with poorly soldered electrical connections to pass quality control only to fail out in the field. Where under warranty, such premature failure undesirably causes expensive warranty costs to be incurred. Where not under warranty, such failure can lead to significant customer dissatisfaction.
Where wires are connected using solderless connections, such as female quick connect/disconnect terminals, ring tongue terminals, and/or spade tongue terminals, problems still arise. If the wire terminals are not properly connected, poor quality electrical connections can lead to quality control refurbishment and, if not detected during quality control testing, premature failure. Even when properly connected, vibration encountered during shipping and equipment operation can degrade the quality of the electrical connection over time undesirably leading to problems that can require warranty costs to be incurred and which can lead to premature malfunction or failure.
What is needed is a control panel assembly that overcomes at least some of these drawbacks.